February 2012
6 posts
4 tags
Kickstart The Nostalgia: Helms Alee – “8/16″... →
The internet’s a weird fucking place and that’s mostly because it’s not really a “place.” It’s absurd as shit and almost equally as fascinating when, one day, you simply realize that it’s the primary source for all of your information about what people are doing in the “real” world. The computer is one of the first items that people head toward after they’ve done anything, just so...
8 tags
RTX GONE GONE: Black Bananas – Rad Times Express... →
In 2004, Jennifer Herrema released the debut album from her post-Royal Trux band RTX. Royal Trux had been a favorite band of mine for a few years and all of the Neil Hagerty solo albums had been great so far, so I was really excited about this new project. I took the September 24th release date off of work so that I could spend the whole day smoking weed and listening to the album, but...
11 tags
BORDERLINE Depressing – Madonna, M.I.A. & the... →
Like over 100-million other Americans, I spent this Superbowl Sunday planted in front of a television screen like a goon. Whether it was because I’m a superfan that gets really fucking amped about over-the-top musical productions by aging over-hyped performers or because I’m really just into talking shit during inevitable trainwrecks, I still have to admit that I bothered to sit through...
12 tags
WIN Tix to ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER Live @ The... →
The brother and sister duo of Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger officially came together as the experimental Indie-pop project, Fiery Furnaces back in 2000. Since then, they have consistently proven themselves to be one of the most adventurous and prolific groups in contemporary music. The duo is credited with 9 releases throughout their shifts between 3 of the most respected independent...
January 2012
10 posts
11 tags
PREVIEW: Tim Doyle “Unreal Estate” Solo Exhibit @... →
It’s been a good 3 years since we first heard the name Tim Doyle. After catching a glimpse of his “Bill Murray Times Six” print, which quickly sold out through Doyle‘s own Nakatomi Inc., it was pretty clear that the Austin-based designer was definitely someone that we’d be hearing from again. In September of 2010, we were contacted by the R&R Gallery in L.A. about a Bill Murray themed...
11 tags
Pledge to see TIM & ERIC’$ BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE... →
We here at Monster Fresh are huge fans of the comedy team of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. These days, the duo is most widely acknowledged for their sketch comedy program Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! that airs on the Cartoon Network‘s late night programming block Adult Swim and features jarring quick-cut editing, flashes of Pokemon-seizure-level anxiety, and public access/early...
7 tags
No Plan B – MARC MARON Live @ the Neptune... →
Marc Maron
Neptune Theatre
Seattle, WA
11.25.11
So you’re probably thinking, “Jesus Christ, Devon. What the fuck? This goddamn show was, like, two months ago. What the hell took so long?” I know. I understand. I’m a little upset about it all myself. But here’s the thing, see… it’s Marc Maron. I love the guy, I really do, but sometimes he can be a little rough for me. Not him or his...
9 tags
Scratches a Pencil – An Interview with... →
You may be familiar with Tim Kinsella through one of his many music projects. It could be from his emo-pioneering band Cap’n Jazz, his ongoing avant-rock project Joan of Arc, or any of a number of other solo efforts, collaborations, or offshoots/incarnations of those groups that he’s been involved in over the years. But, these days, Kinsella has been involving himself in more than just music...
30 tags
PREVIEW: [GALLERY 1988 x ADULT SWIM] Group Art... →
GALLERY 1988: MELROSE
“Gallery 1988 x Adult Swim”
Opening Reception: Friday, Jan. 13, 7-10pm
January 13 – February 4, 2011
When it comes to the pop-culture-themed art exhibits, no gallery has proven more consistent or prolific than the Los Angeles area’s Gallery 1988. Since 2004, G1988 has become one of the foremost destinations to view high quality work from from some of the most talented...
8 tags
CAPTAIN AO – A Conversation with Electronic... →
Alex Osuch, who records under the moniker of DJAO, is a member of the Pacific Northwest electronic music label/collective, Dropping Gems. He is a relatively new artist making his way into the Seattle music scene, but with the release of his first solo EP, Wuhn and his more recent collaborative EP in the No Northwest series, he has been getting a lot of attention. A promising up and comer,...
Muddy Waters and Mozart
lareviewofbooks:
ARETHA SILLS on the Late Great Townes Van Zandt. Photograph by Julie Cline
What I remember most about the AP obituary that ran fifteen years ago tomorrow was its brevity — given that it was written for one of the most influential songwriters of our time — and a quote from Katie Belle, Townes Van Zandt’s five-year-old daughter who was with him: “Daddy’s having a fight with his...
8 tags
7 tags
December 2011
12 posts
WIN Tix to live podcast of Uhh Yeah Dude @ The... →
6 tags
FOUR TET Releases Exclusive Track For Upcoming... →
In the world of electronic music, Kieran Hebden (aka: Four Tet) is one of the good ones. Timeless, incredibly consistent, and impervious to trends, it’s always worth looking into anything new that is released with the Four Tet name stamped onto it. Highly respected as an innovator in his field since the late 1990s, albums like 2001‘s PAUSE -his breakthrough sophomore release under the Four...
WIN Tix to live podcast of Uhh Yeah Dude @ The... →
5 tags
The Lovers, The Dreamers & Me: Jim Henson Tribute... →
The West Coast has it’s share of quality art museums. As for underground contemporary works, we have often found ourselves posting about 3 venues in particular: the pop-surrealism focused, ROQ LA RUE in Seattle, San Francisco-based Spoke Art, and Gallery 1988, with it’s dual locations in the Los Angeles area (Melrose and Venice). All 3 regularly venture into hosting group shows, but both...
12 tags
Futures & Folly: BLITZEN TRAPPER & DAWES Live @... →
BLITZEN TRAPPER
DAWES
Neptune Theatre
Seattle, Wa
11.11.11
Last month we posted a brief write-up, along with a ticket giveaway for The Belle Brigade, Dawes, and Blitzen Trapper show at the Neptune here in Seattle. The contest was super last minute and even more last minute was my decision to pop on over to the show and photograph it. My credentials came through that evening and I decided...
9 tags
Traces – BUILT TO SPILL Live @ City Arts Fest 2011... →
BUILT TO SPILL
City Arts Fest 2011
The Moore Theatre
Seattle, Wa
10.21.11
I first heard Built to Spill from across the hall in the dorms. When I lived in the dorms, I tried to keep myself off the radar. The natural manner that my floor mates had with group dynamics made it clear that they were the fittest Darwinian specimens and that I was going extinct. It came to a point where I, ...
4 tags
Air War – CRYSTAL CASTLES Live @ City Arts Fest... →
CRYSTAL CASTLES
City Arts Fest 2011
The Showbox SODO
Seattle, Wa
10.20.11
Walking into the never-ending cavern that was October‘s Crystal Castles show at the Showbox Sodo , I knew that I was a part of something outside of the realms of modern reality; something primitive and thoroughly futuristic all at once. Everything about the experience seemed to be an oxymoron. From the 19-year-old...
4 tags
[Preview] ABSOLUTE HAPPINESS: A Solo Exhibit by... →
Prior to October of last year, we had never even heard the name Serge Gay Jr. Since then, we’ve conducted/published an interview (March ’11) with the artist here on the site and I’ve personally purchased 2 of his works (an original piece and a giclee print). The last year has shown itself to be quite successful for Gay, finding him earning a Grammy nomination -shared with director/frequent...
3 tags
Heroes And Villains: The Beach Boys’ SMiLE... →
I recently wolfed down a delicious $4.99 lunch combo at China First. When I was paying for my meal at the register, I heard a familiar song that I liked. It took me a few seconds to recognize what song it was, but I could tell immediately that it was a song that I knew and loved. One thing that I don’t particularly like to admit is that this song was “Kokomo.”
I have no problem admitting...
7 tags
WIN A Copy of PORTLANDIA Season One on Blu-Ray/DVD... →
[CLICK HERE to jump directly to giveaway]
The first time that I saw an episode of PORTLANDIA it was after getting a heads up about it from a friend on Facebook. The IFC original comedy series was officially premiering on the network that week, but the debut episode was already up for free viewing online (we were actually going to embed the episode back then, but the screener was only...
November 2011
15 posts
9 tags
Indestructable – ROBYN Live @ City Arts Fest 2011... →
ROBYN
City Arts Fest 2011
The Paramount Theatre
Seattle, Wa
10.20.11
Seeing Robyn at this year’s City Arts Fest was my first big pop concert. I’m happy to have fulfilled this rite-of-passage; never mind the fact I’m almost 30. Actually, being almost 30 does relate to this story, because, as I age, the less tolerance I have for staying out late, fumbling through crowds, STANDING, and the ...
10 tags
WatchBLITZEN TRAPPER w/Dawes Live @ Neptune Theatre SEATTLE [11.11.11]]
13 tags
WatchGANG GANG DANCE w/Prince Rama live @ Neumos SEATTLE [10.14.11]
13 tags
EGOWAR – Gang Gang Dance Live @ Neumos in Seattle... →
Gang Gang Dance
Neumos
Seattle, Wa
10.14.11
Let’s get this straight: “I am a total snob, a pseudo intellectual, and an occasional dilettante.”
I know this about myself. At least I should get some Buddha points for being mindfully (if knowingly) self-aware. I appreciate most genres of art and music. I even admire my own openness to various genres when I’m alone with myself in my car. I...
15 tags
DARK ARTS – Man Man plays the Laser Dome @ City... →
MAN MAN
City Arts Fest 2011
Pacific Science Center [laser dome]
Seattle, Wa
10.22.11
Man Man’s most recent album, Life Fantastic, was a long awaited release that saw the band making some adjustments to their sound, incorporating strings into the background, and developing a more refined sound in their production. To me -a longtime fan- these changes were (and still are) a little...
5 tags
Just Abandoned Myself – BORIS Live @ Neumos... →
BORIS
Neumos
Seattle, WA
10.12.11
Boris has intrigued me since the first time that I read about ‘em. It was in the early 2000s and, while it may have been on a web forum, it was much more likely from a now-defunct post-rock and experimental record review site. I knew that they took their name from a Melvins tune, I knew that they were Japanese, and I knew they had a hot lady on guitar. ...
zach hill (SH Label Page): Boredoms Announce 111... →
zachhill1:
Like they did on 7/7/07 with 77 Boadrum, 8/8/08 with 88 Boadrum, ’09 with Boadrum 9, and last year with, you got it, Boadrum 10, the numerological experimentalist heroes of Boredums will assemble another world-class drum circle this year, on the corresponding date, with an…
16 tags
WatchMAN MAN live @ the Pacific Science Center laser dome SEATTLE [10.22.11]
6 tags
Daniel Barrow – “Every Time I See Your Picture I... →
DANIEL BARROW
City Arts Fest
Seattle, Wa
0ct. 22, 2011
Possibly one of the most unique additions to Seattle’s City Arts Festival, visual artist Daniel Barrow performed his Sobey award-winning “Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry” at FRED Wildlife Lounge on Oct. 22. Having seen Barrow’s performance for the first time a couple of years ago in Milwaukee, I jumped at the chance to witness it...
8 tags
ENTER TO WIN: Beach Boys “SMiLE” Double CD +... →
[CLICK HERE to jump directly to giveaway]
THE BACKSTORY
*a rundown of the history of the Beach Boys & SMiLE*
The recording sessions for the Beach Boys SMiLE album are among some of the most infamous in rock music history. After launching their careers on clean cut images, vocal harmonies, and all-American subject matter like girls, cars, and surfing (although only the drummer/brother...
7 tags
FREE DOWNLOAD – Freddie Gibbs “COLD DAY IN HELL”... →
Freddie Gibbs‘ journey to where he sits now in the music industry is incredibly telling. Hailing from Gary, Indiana, the rapper comes from an area that is among the most notorious in the nation for it’s levels of impoverishment, violence, and crime. Not surprisingly, his lyrical content is often fueled by tales of pimping, crack dealing, and murder. Such subject matter clearly isn’t ...
October 2011
17 posts
13 tags
EL-P Uses LEGITMIX to Sample RUSH for “DRONES OVER... →
EL-P (aka: Jamie “El Producto” Meline) is, arguably, one of the most important hip-hop producers of all time. I use the term “arguably” because, I’m personally willing to argue that fact, if anyone really wants to get into it. In the 90s, Meline started the highly influential rap crew Company Flow and released the doom-laden classic Funcrusher Plus (an extended version of their...
6 tags
JUST THE SAME BUT BRAND NEW – St. Vincent live @... →
St. Vincent
The Neptune Theatre
Seattle, Wa
10.13.11
As of October 13th, 2011, I have been to the Neptune Theatre twice. My first time at the former Landmark cinema was more than three years ago; the occasion being the 48-Hour Film Festival. My part in our entry was doubly noteworthy for me, because offscreen I wrote the music and onscreen had the enviable role of “nude organist.” I was...
7 tags
WatchBATTLES live @ Neptune Theatre SEATTLE [10.12.11]
6 tags
JOURNEY MAN: AMON TOBIN’s ISAM [part 1 - The Album... →
ISAM, the latest effort by Brazilian-born electronic mastermind, Amon Tobin, begins with the static-speckled mutated warps of a spacecraft’s tractor beam pressed into vinyl and played in reverse. As they whiz past -one by one- like radioactive mach 5 boomerangs, there’s a restrained compression to the short, quickly intensified spurts and it’s like being in a wind tunnel full of fluttering...
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WatchSTEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS live @ The Neptune Theatre SEATTLE [10.11.11]
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CITY ARTS FEST 2011 [Seattle] – A Few Suggestions... →
So it’s only about a week away, before Seattle‘s CITY ARTS FEST 2011 swarms in with it’s myriad of performances, exhibits, and events to overtake the better part of the city and it’s various venues (see our preview here). Maybe you’ll go check some stuff out. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ve gone back and forth on the idea, over the last few weeks, but are still undecided. Maybe you’d...